TOPIC: Duplicated javascript requests

I'm hoping to speed up my LS by reducing the duplicate js requests. Through a little experimentation I have discovered that common_functions.php has a section that does not appear to be necessary and when commented out, it reduces the js requests in half. In other words, when it is included, LS doubles the js requests.

Can anyone confirm or deny whether this section is required?

In my limited testing with the following commented out, the site appears to render without any issues and was about 20% faster per Firebug net.

I've made a slight adjustment to accommodate the slider js, as the above would not load it. At this point I am leaving it only commented out but it seems to be working well and as mentioned before is slightly faster loading (and forces the ordering of the js and css which addresses Firebug detected issues).